Philadelphia 76ers: Sixers trekking on with key elements missing

PHILADELPHIA — On the backside of a piece of paper, Doug Collins wrote in magic marker a few teams’ records. And underneath those was the Sixers’.

At the 21-game mark — without Andrew Bynum, despite a handful of injuries and minus a go-to guy in whose hands the ball is placed for last-second shots — the Sixers (12-9) own more wins than Boston, Brooklyn, Indiana and a select few others featured on Collins’ sheet of paper.

“They’ve worked their tail off for that. And they need to know that,” Collins said of the Sixers, following their extremely brief practice Tuesday at PCOM. “We’ve had Swaggy (Nick Young) out. We’ve had Royal Ivey out. Damien (Wilkins) has gone down. Andrew has not played at all.”

“I’m proud of that (record), and I hope our city is proud of that. Our guys have fought and they’ve competed and they’re growing up.”

Part of that maturation process is learning how to close out games. Collins believes he might have found the right combination of guys to put on the floor in crunch time. Nine of the Sixers’ last 10 victories have come in two-possession games with two minutes, 30 seconds left.

Somehow, some way, they’re pulling out wins. This season, Collins’ team is 3-0 in games decided by three or fewer points. All of last season, they were 1-4 in similar situations.

Perhaps the quirkiest part of that winning equation is the absence of a go-to guy. With the game on the line, Collins said he trusts Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday, each of whom has made game-winning shots in the Sixers’ last two wins. But a season ago, it was Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams in those situations.

“It’s hard to say there’s that one definitive guy,” Collins said. “...I think these guys are getting a real confidence about making shots at the end of the game. That’s been a saver for us.”

Consider that the Sixers are getting beaten in scoring differential (92.8 to 94.5), shooting (.430 to .447) and rebounding differential (41.4 to 44.2), yet they’re on the winning side of the ledger. That doesn’t mean Collins is pleased with the Sixers’ present situation, though. He still wishes he had that one guy reserved for taking big shots at the end of games.

The Sixers had one Monday in Holiday. Disregarding their six missed free throws inside the final 90 seconds, the Sixers closed out well against Detroit. Holiday bricked two of those foul shots, then came back to hit the go-ahead jumper. Similarly, against Boston Dec. 8, Turner missed his first four shots in overtime before converting the game-winning bucket.

“I think every team would always say they’d love to have the ultimate closer,” Collins said. “Do you want Michael Jordan or committee? Do you want Mariano Rivera or four short relievers?”

“You want somebody who’s going to slam the door. What we’re trying to do is develop that. The thing I loved about last night was Jrue missed two free throws then buried that jump shot. That to me was fantastic, and we went right back to him. From my standpoint, I had forgotten those two free throws. I wanted him to. Those were done, let’s move onto the next play.”

Said Turner: “That’s huge, when the coach has confidence in you and is setting up plays for you to go to work. It helps out a lot. You don’t want to let him down as well as the rest of the team. It’s definitely a blessing.”

The Sixers go for that 13th win tonight, at home against Chicago. So Collins probably will have that magic marker close at hand.

•••Speaking of Bynum, he was on the court when practice was opened to the media. He was hoisting baseline shots at one end of the floor, doing so without leaving his feet. Collins said he put in a few isolation plays Monday for Turner and Holiday — and used them — to replicate what he called for Grant Hill when Collins was coaching Detroit. Spencer Hawes, who had 15 points and eight rebounds against the Pistons, said it’s taken time adjusting to his role off the bench, “but it’s not my excuse by any means.”